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FIRST PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF MALAWI, DR. KAMUZU BANDA, ON MONDAY FORMALLY OPENED THE?

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FIRST PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF MALAWI, DR. KAMUZU BANDA, ON MONDAY FORMALLY OPENED THE NEW HYDRO-ELECTRIC POWER PLANT, AT NKULA FALLS, NEAR THE CAPITAL, BLANTYRE. IT WAS THE LAST FORMAL FUNCTION ATTENDED BY THE COUNTRY'S RETIRING GOVERNOR-GENERAL, SIR GLYN JONES. MALAWI BECAME A REPUBLIC, WITHIN THE BRITISH COMMONWEALTH, AT MIDNIGHT ON TUESDAY (5 JULY).

WORK BEGAN ON THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE SCHEME, ON THE SHIRE RIVER, TWO YEARS AGO. THE NKULA FALLS PROJECT IS THE MOST ECONOMICAL SOURCE OF ELECTRIC POWER AVAILABLE TO MALAWI IN THE BLANTYRE AREA. IT REPLACES THE STEAM AND DIESEL POWER STATION IN THE CAPITAL, WHICH AT PRESENT SUPPLIES NEARLY ALL THE POWER USED IN THE SOUTHERN REGION OF MALAWI.

THE HYDRO-ELECTRIC SCHEME, THREE MILES FROM BLANTYRE, HAS COST ABOUT GBP3,000,000 (8,400,000 DOLLARS) TO BUILD.